(2 Weeks)
“New Jersey is weird,” I remember him saying. “No place like it.”
On one of our first trips back together he also asked me how it felt being back. “Like I never left,” I replied. Unlike me, Kurt was born in New Jersey, although he’s been living in Illinois for more than 30 years now and raised his kids here. New Jersey stopped being home for him a long time ago.
New Jersey is in my blood. I arrived there when I was two, was raised there, and raised my daughter there, spending 51 of my now almost 60 years there before relocating to Illinois almost seven years ago. When I go back it doesn’t feel odd at all. It feels natural. I get right back into a Jersey groove, where I never need to use GSP (even to avoid traffic), and every sight generates a memory.
Kurt was right about one thing though. New Jersey is weird, as the publication Weird N.J. (your travel guide to New Jersey’s local legends and best kept secrets) boasts. Love it or hate it, most can agree there is no place like it. For starters, if you drop the “new” just calling it Jersey, everyone still knows what you’re talking about. Can’t do that with New Mexico or New York!
New Jersey ranks 47th in size (land area), just ahead of Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island. But it ranks 11th in population, making it the most densely populated state. It’s not that New Jersey doesn’t have any wide-open spaces, either. I’m sure you remember the Pine Barrens episode of the Sopranos and a large swath of the state is horse country. New Jersey also has more horses per square mile than any other state – including Kentucky! As the Garden State, New Jersey has a significant amount of farmland – still.
The most populated county in the most populated state, with just shy of a million residents, is Bergen County. That’s were I grew up. And if you think New Jersey is weird…
Bergen County’s population is greater than that of the total population of six states (Delaware, South Dekota, North Dekota, Alaska, Vermont, and Wyoming). It’s no wonder that Bergen County is home to the town that has more shopping malls – and retail sales – than any other zip code: Paramus, New Jersey. What is even more remarkable about that, is they do it in spite of Blue Laws.
Bergen County’s Blue Laws which keep retailers closed on Sundays (with exceptions for gas stations, grocery stores and some others) were historically based on the Christian Sabbath but have been upheld in the name of peace by people of all religions every time it goes up for a vote. Being so densely populated with inadequate public transportation, Bergen County residents feel the wrath of shoppers more than most. And time after time, voters supported peace, with the majority not seeing it as a religious issue. Since my parents were in retail, I know first-hand how Blue Laws helped even the playing field between big retailers and small mom & pops that can’t be open 7 days a week if they want to have any kind of life with their families.
New Jersey also has no sales tax on clothing. Something I remember, sadly, when I get to the register at any clothing retailer here in Illinois.
New Jersey is a peninsula with the Hudson River and Atlantic Ocean to the east and Delaware River on its western border. It’s also like two states in one. The northern part of the state identifies with New York City, while the southern half of the state are Phillies Phans. Up north (before going vegan) I enjoyed Taylor Ham and egg sandwiches. Same thing down south, except they call it pork roll.
The shore is kind of neutral territory where everyone goes for summer. New Jersey doesn’t have beaches – it’s The Shore!
I will admit, if arriving in New Jersey via Newark Airport, it doesn’t appear to be the most attractive state, but those refineries are why gas is cheaper there. And it’s served to you! New Jerseyans don’t pump gas. Seriously, the state doesn’t allow it. New Jersey is the only state in the union where it is illegal to pump your own gas. Something I miss tremendously during northern Illinois winters.
New Jersey has been the brunt of jokes for as long as I can remember. At college in Philadelphia, when I told people I was from New Jersey, the response was often “what exit?” When Governor Jim McGreevy resigned after admitting to an extramarital homosexual relationship in 2004, The Onion headline read: “Gay American tearfully admits he’s governor of New Jersey.”
Sure, The Sopranos, Jersey Shore and The Real Housewives of New Jersey, may not have done much to help the state’s reputation, but when I tell people I grew up in Franklin Lakes, at least RHONJ fans have a point of reference. I have also been inside the Bada Bing Club on a couple of occasions (IRL it’s a go-go bar called, Satin Dolls on Route 17 in Lodi). I can also say I was (not seriously) injured at Action Park!
On the way home from a late night out, nothing beats a New Jersey Diner! Open 24/7. Or a New Jersey pie (pizza) or an everything bagel. All the first things I look for when I’m back east. Nothing like it.
Please help me support Mercy Home for Boys & Girls with my 60th Birthday Fundraiser. I will be running the United Airlines NYC Half on March 16th. This will be Half Marathon #54. My goal is to reach Half Marathon #60 before the end of the year. Please help me stay motivated, and make sure the children of Mercy Home are provided the care they need. To learn more about Mercy Home and my why, please visit my fundraising page. Thank you.
We’ll always be Jersey Girls… great blog as usual Mary! Definitely made me smile.